Venezuela Update

The history over the past two months or so, is now marked by a media circus explosion.

A $50 million bounty on Maduro

Washington doubled the reward for Maduro’s capture, raising it to $50 million, calling him “one of the world’s biggest drug traffickers.”

Attorney General Pam Bondi stated that the goal is to “strengthen the network around the regime,” accusing prominent figures, including Diosdado Cabello and Vladimir Padrino López, of drug trafficking.

According to the Clash Report, the preparations suggest not a ground attack but air raids.

Expanded military presence in the Caribbean

The United States has assembled a Joint Task Force in the southern Caribbean Sea, initially composed of three Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, an amphibious group of 4,500 soldiers, and P-8 reconnaissance aircraft for maritime patrols.

In September, the force was reinforced with 10 F-35B fighters stationed in Puerto Rico and MQ-9 Reaper drones stationed at Rafael Hernández airport.

Deployment of the USS Gerald R. Ford strike group

On October 24, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered the USS Gerald R. Ford aircraft carrier strike group, including the USS Normandy, USS Carney, and other destroyers, to enter the region.

The operation, involving over 4,000 personnel and 90 aircraft, is described by Venezuelan officials as the “final phase” of a campaign to neutralize the Cartel de los Soles and its ally, Tren de Aragua. These drug cartels are non-existent.

The US forces has shot to smithereens at my last count about 9 small boats that they say were drug trafficers. The accusation to the US is that they do not know who they are bombing and droning. Hegseth announced: “One thing that has been highly misconstrued here is that in some way we don’t know who precisely we are striking and why. We know how to map networks and hunt enemies of our country.”

The past day:  The United States has decided to strike military sites inside Venezuela (these are media reports)  

Yesterday, the United States closed part of the airspace in the Puerto Rico area. A NOTAM has been issued for a small portion of airspace near the U.S. staging grounds at Puerto Rico. Preparations for the attack on Venezuela are in full swing.

Along the coast of Venezuela and in the northern part of the country, there is a disruption in the GPS signal and spotty power provision.

Sources told the Miami Herald that air raids could begin within days or hours, aiming to paralyze the Venezuelan leadership.

Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has requested arms supplies from Russia and China. Previously, a Russian plane arrived in Venezuela, reportedly transporting military cargo.

Trump’s denials regarding the preparation of an attack seem more like a smokescreen. The measures taken to deploy forces off the Venezuelan coast are too costly to be just a demonstration. Any attacks will most likely be coordinated with attempts of internal attacks using cells prepared by the CIA.

Reason:  The pretext is a roll over of the GWOT into a war on drugs.  It is well known that Venezuela is not a drug trafficker and Maduro or Petro in Colombia are not drug lords. The accepted reason is a grab of Venezuela’s oil and mineral riches.   What needs to be added is that the two countries under immediate threat, Venezuela and Colombia, are both vocal anti-zionist.  The third country that falls within a drug profile, is Mexico. In South America, Ecuador is a known drug manufacturer and distributor country.

Trinidad y Tobago declared an Alert Level 1 for its Armed Forces as well as its Coast Guard over all its islands, the highest level of Alert and called up all military forces to its four military bases.

In the past week Brazil conducted a mega operation in the State of Rio de Janeiro against drug trafficers in certain favelas. This was carried out by the state government along with the civil and military police forces. Did they want to act as an example for the US, i.e., fight drugs in your own country? This may be a possibility. LULA offered mediation services to the US but they shrugged their shoulders.

Commentators that know Venezuela and the terrain, and have themselves been soldiers, comment that Venezuela is akin to Vietnam. Colombian fighters act everywhere in the world as mercenaries so there is real war fighting experience. Venezuela announced the formation of an international force who wants to come in and defend. Venezuela is highly weaponized now, with everyone armed and part of a civilian defense and people’s militias. So far two CIA type operations against Madura was announced and both failed. But it is a lot of money on the table for a person that thinks they will be awarded with this money. It is generally accepted that Venezuelans who left, left because of the regime. It was a surprise to see Venezuelans in London getting together and protesting against the US action. Some left because of the years long sanctions regime.

The Nobel peace prize winner, Maria Corina Machado, is calling for violent overthrow.

The UN and most countries denounced the US action. Venezuela has older Russian missiles and Iranian drones and jets. I would question the bubbly reports of what exactly Venezuela has (really? S300’s?) but it is not farfetched to think that Russian and Iranian training and instructor personnel are on the ground. So the US will be fighting Russian war-making ability, Iranian war-making ability, a massive people’s militia, a conventional army of 95-150k, an international military group, and we cannot say which of the neighbors will lend a hand. Do we expect North Koreans? Just quietly, ya’ know. A AnsarAllah comparison is not appropriate as the conditions are very different.

The US war on Venezuela is a terrorist war on civilians:

Trump admin officials acknowledged that they do not know the identities of the victims of their military attacks in the Caribbean & eastern Pacific.

The US War Department has no evidence.

Source: https://t.co/gjGCR7GyHf pic.twitter.com/vqg2hMEtQ3

— Ben Norton (@BenjaminNorton) November 1, 2025

Should an attack come from the US, it will most probably be stand-off and perhaps they will continue to attempt CIA type operations first. If this really goes hot, we can make ready for another US instigated carnage. Venezuela was never anti selling its oil legitimately to the US.

There are many Latinos in the US. I think of things like this happening: “An explosion occurred at the largest oil refinery in New Mexico, Navajo Refinery. Three people have been taken to the hospital, AP reports citing local police. The causes of the incident have not been disclosed.”

If I could dream, I would dream that the fighting men of the world decides that the hegemon needs a definitive military pushback. Gringo Go Home! Perhaps these international fighting men for Venezuela think of that too. I think of training grounds in the Sahel. I think of international support. As China now has a new center where nations can go to mediate, with skilled mediators, I think of a center where we create an international force, just exactly for examples like Venezuela. Our own Blackrock, or Wagner, so to speak. I am a peace monger and not a war monger, but it looks as if we are seriously in need of the skills of war.

Updates:

Corinna has lost it – Eyes beginning to roll around in her head and telling clearly untrue stories which everyone knows are untrue.

Maria Corina Machado on why Venezuelans aren’t taking to the streets to protest:

“This regime, with Cuban intelligence, has created mechanisms to infiltrate, and anyone who goes out into the streets is detained, disappeared, or murdered immediately. When we won the election on… pic.twitter.com/Uk1kVVyYTr

— Emmanuel Rincón (@EmmaRincon) October 28, 2025

From the region: This threat is for oil but also for upping Rubio’s imagined mistique for his presidential bid.

Colombia’s state media is taking a stand.

RTVC, the country’s public broadcast system, just announced it will no longer use U.S. government language to describe military operations in the Caribbean and Pacific.

Instead, they’ll call them what they are: extrajudicial executions and human rights violations.

The head of RTVC also condemned threats against President Gustavo Petro and vowed not to normalize talk of U.S. military intervention in Colombia.